Kevin Rabas
Kevin J. Rabas is an American poet, academic, and jazz musician. Life Youth and education Rabas earned ; He also earned Rabas earned a B.A. in English with an emphasis in creative writing and Journalism from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1995, an M.A. in English from Kansas State University with an emphasis in creative writing in 1998, an M.F.A. in creative writing from Goddard College in 2002, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 2007. His Ph.D. dissertation is titled Against Gravity: Last Road Trip (poems) and Sidewalk Drum (a play): A creative dissertation. Writing Career His poetry and short stories have been published or are scheduled to be published in I-70 Review, Connecticut Review, Eclipse, Hawaii Pacific Review, Spindrift, Outsider Writers, Thorny Locust, Coal City Review, Sheridan Edwards Review, Laurel Review, Event, Cannoli Pie, Present Magazine, Cottonwood Review, Mid-America Review, seveneightfive, Nimrod and other publications. He is the author of two collections of poetry including Lisa's Flying Electric Guitar. He is also the co-director of the Creative Writing Program at Emporia State University. As a playwright, Rabas's work includes "Elizabeth," a full production staged at the North Park Playwright Festival in San Diego, Oct. 1-3, 2010; full production of "Elves," EMU Theatre, Lawrence Arts Center, May 29-30 and June 5-6, 2009; and publication of "After the Head Injury: A Dialogue" in Kansas English.Kansas English, 93:1, 2009, 99-100. His creative non-fiction story, "Play Out," was published in Jazz Ambassador Magazine.''Jazz Ambassador Magazine (JAM), Aug./Sept. 2006, 40. He co-directed a short documentary, "Don Jaffe: Jazz Poet," directed and filmed by Max McCoy for Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee in 2008. He has written numerous reviews, interviews and profiles of writers and musicians. Editing Dr. Rabas has served as co-editor of ''Flint Hills Review since 2008. He edited several books of poetry and fiction published by Woodley Press, including Burn by Kathleen Johnson in 2008 and Ghost Stories of the American West by Denise Low in 2010. He also edited the forthcoming Fugitive Histories by Harley Elliott and Certain Dawn by Tasha Haas. Music In addition to teaching and writing, Rabas performs regularly with musicians, combining his poetry with jazz and funk music. A trained and experienced jazz musician, specializing mostly in percussion and drumming, Rabas cites music as a constant source of inspiration to his poetry. An experienced jazz musician, Rabas cites music as a frequent influence on his work. His poetry recordings include Last Road Trip (2002), a jazz poetry CD featuring Rabas reading original poetry and drumming, with Josh Schlar on saxophone. Recognition Rabas's most award-winning book was a collection of poetry entitled Lisa's Flying Electric Piano. The book won the Nelson Poetry Book Award from the Kansas Authors Club and the 2010 Kansas Notable Book Award from the Great Plains Center for the Book. The book was a finalist in the Sr. Madeleine Kisner Prize in Poetry from Newman University. Three of his poems ("Bird's Horn," "Artt Frank's Speed Bag" and "Eden, or Lucas, Kansas") were nominated for the Pushcard Prize by Brian Daldorph of the Coal City Review. He won the Langston Hughes Poetry Award from the Lawrence Arts Center, the Kansas Voices Award in 2005 and 2007, and the New Voice Award from the Salina Poetry Series in 2003. Publications Poetry *''Bird's Horn, and other poems''. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, 2007; Coal City Review Press, 2008. *''Lisa's Flying Electric Piano: Poems''. Topeka, KS: Woodley Press / Washburn University, 2009. *''Sonny Kenner's Red Guitar: Peems''. Coal City Review Press, 2013. *''Eliot's Violin: Poems''. Wichita, KS: Oil Press, 2015. Novel *''Green Bike: A group novel'' (with Mike Graves & Tracy Million Simmons). Emporia, KS : Meadowlark., 2014. Fiction *''Spider Face''. Rockhampton, Qld: Otoliths, 2011. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Kevin Rabas, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 13, 2015. Audio / video *''Last Road Trip: Jazz poetry'' (with Josh Sclar; CD). 2003. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *"Good-bye" ;Audio / video *The Petroglyphs at MySpace *Kevin Rabas at YouTube ;Books *Kevin Rabas at Amazon.com ;About *Kevin Rabas at Kansas Poets. *Dr. Kevin J. Rabas, Department of English, Emporia State University. *Kevin J. Rabas, ESU's Poet in Residence], Emporia State University. *Contributor Spotlight: Kevin Rabas, Midwest Gothic. *Kevin Rabas Official website. *Kevin J. Rabas Curriculum vitae Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American poets Category:Emporia State University Category:University of Missouri–Kansas City alumni Category:Kansas State University alumni Category:University of Kansas alumni Category:Goddard College alumni Category:21st-century poets Category:American academics Category:English-language poets Category:Poets